Weft-detecting device for looms.



1m. 7l4,690. Patented Dec/2,1902.

n. l. HARRIMAN. I WEFT DETECTING DEVICE FOR LDOMS.

- (Ag'rplication filed Mar. 12, 1902.) (No Model.)

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NITED STATES Y 'ATENT OFFIoE.

HENRY HARRIMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN LOOIVI COMPANY, OF READVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

WEFT-DETECTING DEVICE FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 714,690, dated December 2, 1902- Applioation filed March 12, 1902.- Serial No. 97,843. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY I. HARRIMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York, State of New York, have in vented a certain new and useful Improvement in Weft-Detecting Devices for Looms, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

[0 The invention comprises an improved device for ascertaining the condition of the weft-supply carried by the Working shuttle in a loom and also combinations of the said device with instrumentalities for controlling or modifying the working'of the loom.

. The essential features of the invention have been designed more especially for use in combination with instrumentalities operating to effect automatically replenishment of the working weft-supply. Looms containing in strumentalities of this class are presented, for instance, in prior United States Letters Patent No. 626,834, granted to me June 13, 1899; No. 636,228, granted October 31, 1899;

No. 637,113, granted to me November 14,1899,

and No. 652,105, granted June 19, 1900. Other forms of such looms are known in the art.- The precise character and mode of operation of the weftreplenishing instrumentalities with which the said features are combined in practice are immaterial. The invention is equally well adapted for employment whether the said replenishment is efiected by making automatic change of shuttles or of shuttle- 3 5 boxes or of weft or filling carriers, all of which have been proposed heretofore and various ,contrivances for which are known. Some of the features of the invention are not restricted necessarily to use in an automatic weft-replenishing loom, but may be utilized in other looms as well for the purpose of stopping or otherwise modifying the working of such looms, as will be apparent from the'description which is contained hereinafter.

The weft-indicating device of the present embodiment of my invention is designed to be employed chiefly to ascertain the occurrence of the predetermined degree of depletion or exhaustion of the weft-supply that is carried by the working shuttle on the lay of the loom and in practice usually will be caused to indicate or act when some yarn still remains unwound within the said shuttle, the object in such cases being, as will be understood, to provide for oocasioning the weft replenishment or the stoppage of the 100111 before complete unwinding of the said weft-supply takes place, so that neither a short or incomplete length or pick of weft nor the portion of yarn first wound in preparation for introduction into the shuttle shall occupy a given shed inthe cloth, with injury to the latter. The said device is, however, capable of being utilized, if desired, for the purpose of ascertaining the complete exhaustion of the working weft-supply.

I have illustrated my invention in the best form or embodiment thereof which has yet been devised by me in the accompanying drawing, which latter shows in perspective portion of aloom having the said form or embodiment of the invention applied thereto.

Having reference to thedrawing, a: designates one of the side frames of a loom, and 00 the breast-beam, only portions thereof being represented.

'ot is the lay-beam, a the reed, and d the reed-cap, only portions of the said parts being shown. The shuttle-box back at one end of the lay is designated a a is the corresponding shuttle-box front, a picker working in the shuttle-box being indicated at a and portion of the corresponding picker-stick being shown at a A shuttle b is shown Within the shuttle-box, and c is a weft-carrieror filling-carrier within the said shuttle. The said weft-carrier or filling'carrier in this instance is constituted by a bobbin, although the precise character. of the weft-carrier or filling-carrier is not in all cases materialthat is to say, while the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown employed in connection with ,a bobbin in the shuttle b, yetI contemplate the use of the invention in connection with weftcarriers or filling-carriers of other kinds or characters. In the drawing the bobbin 0 is shown almost empty or exhausted of weft or free.

filling, only a few 'coils of yarn being represented as left thereon.

Portion of a series of warp-threads is represented at d, and portion of a web of woven cloth is represented at d in the said figure.

My weft-indicating device is applied to the shuttle b and is characterized by consisting, essentially, of a movable member which is arranged to be held depressed in an abnormal and inoperative position under the control of a certain portion of the load of weft or filling which is carried by the shuttle until such portion is drawn off in the process of weaving, and which is also arranged to ascend then into position to cooperate with adjunctive instrumentalities for the attainment of the predetermined results in the working of the loom, wherefore I term the said member a riser, it being, further, contrived to yield readily when during the movement of the shuttle from side to side in the loom the riser having recovered its erect or operative position it is acted against by warp-threads ofthe upper plane of the shed through which the shuttle is moving. The illustrated form of the said movable member or riser is designated e in the drawing. It is applied to the shuttle b adjacent to the base of the bobbin 0. Preferably the .riser in its illustrated form is constituted of a flat strip of suitable material, which is secured by one end thereof to the shuttle, the other end thereof being Its normal position is erect or substantially erect, as indicated in the drawing. It is flexible or flexibly mounted in order that its free end may be depressed and inserted under a portion of the coils of weft yarn or filling adjacent the base of the bobbin or other weft or filling carrier applied to the shuttle and also in order that it may give or bend freely by its contact with the warp-threads of the upper plane of the shed during the flight of the shuttle after the riser has been permitted to assumeits normal erect position. (Represented inthe drawing.) The riser is elastic or elastically mounted in order that it may tend to resume its normal elevated position after bein g deflected therefromas,forinstance,upon being released from the confinement of the coils of weft-yarn at the base of the bobbin or their weft or filling carrier when the latter are delivered from the shuttle in the process of weaving; also, subsequent to such release,

as the shuttle passes out from between the planes of the shed in the warp-threads on completing a flight from one side to the other of the loom. The riser is also contrived so i as to enable it to cooperate in the swinging said strip to the shuttle may be effected in any convenient manner. A notch c is formed in the base of the bobbin 0 to receive the free convenient form of trip for coaction with the riser c. It is in the shape of a light frame hanging just above the path which is described by the top of the shuttle-boxas the lay swings to and fro from a shaft or rod f, mounted in a bearing 9 on an arm g, which is bolted at g at the rear of the lay to an upward extension 9 of side frame as. The said shaft or rod f is furnished with an arm f which latter isjoined by a rod f preferably of telescoping construction to permit its length to be adjusted as required, to an arm f of a tilting detent f, the said detent being pivoted at f upon a slide f which is mounted on breast-beam m. So long as the coils of weft which control the riser remain in place on the bobbin the riser will be held down, and consequently when the shuttle b is in the shuttle-box' adjacent the trip f and the lay swings forward the said trip will not be disturbed. When, however, the said coils are drawn out of the shuttle and the riser is released, the riser will in the forward movement of the lay after the shuttle enters said shuttle-box be caused to engage the trip and actu-- ate the latter, so as to move the detent f 5 into an abnormal position. In said position the engaging portion of said detent will be in the path of a suitable going part and will be engaged thereby, with the result that the predetermined change in the working of the loom will be brought about. In the present instance the going part, which engages with the detent f is constituted by an arm h, with which the gooseneck h is provided, the said gooseneck being actuated,as usual, by means of a cam k on the cam-shaft i of the loom. When it is desired simply to stop the loom, the slide f may be arranged to actuate simply the usual knocking-0E leverj, whereby to dislodge the usual shipperehandle 70 from its holding notch in the bracket 70. The lugs on slide f between which detent f is pivoted, engage with said knocking-0E lever when the slide is advanced, and thereby the release of the shipper-handle is effectuated. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the slide f actuates the knockingoff lever j 'to occasion the unshipping of the driving power of the loom and actuates also the starting-arm m of the change mechanism, by means of which automatic weft replenishment is brought about, the said starting-arm being, in efiect, the same as the arm 37 of the loom of my Letters Patent No. 636,228 and the arm i of my Letters Patent No. 652,105. As in the case of the looms of these Letters Patent it is contemplated that as soon as the automatic weft replenishment has been effected the driving power of the loom shall be shipped on automatically, so as to restart the loom.

For the purpose of stopping the loom in case of breakage of the weft or filling in order that the weaver may be afforded an opportunity to pick out'a short length of weft that has been laid in a shed of the warpthreads I have shown the usual weft-fork at n, pivoted toaslide n, mounted on the breastbeam, the said slide when pushed forward by the engagement of the gooseneck h with the tail of the said Weft-fork acting by means of a lug or projection n thereon to operate the knocking-off lever J to dislodge the shipperhandle It. The said slide it is arranged to act in usual manner against the arm n on the rod 7%, extending across the loom beneath the breast-beam, for the purpose of lifting the take-up pawls. When slide it is pushed forward, as aforesaid, the driving power of the loom is unshipped without any action of the replenishing mechanism being occasioned, and the loom stops until restarted by the weaver.

In order that no injury to the selvage-warps may be occasioned in consequence of the riser e in its erect position being caused to strike against the same as the shuttle is picked from side to side in the loom, a depressor 0 is attached to the lay-beam closely adjacent the selvage=warps. This depressor extends across the shuttle-race at a height sufiicient to permit the shuttle to pass freely beneath the same and acts to turn the riser down as the shuttle passes beneath, so that as the shuttle moves in among the warps the riser will pass in under the threads of the upper plane of the shed in a depressed and substantially horizontal position.

I claim as my invention 1. In a loom, in combination, the lay, the shuttle, the elasticallymounted flexible riser, adapted to yield under contact with the warpthreads, occupying normally a position in which it extends above the shuttle, and adapted to be held in an abnormal depressed position under thecontrolof a portion of the load of weft or filling which is carried by the shuttle, and a trip into engagement with which said riser, when occupying its normal position, is carried by the movement of the lay.

2. In a loom, in combination, the lay, the shuttle, the riser applied to said shuttle, occupying normally a position in which it extends above the shuttle, and adapted to be held in an abnormal depressed position under the control of a portion of the load of weft or filling which is carried by the shuttle, and a trip below which the shuttle is carried by the movement of the lay and into engagement with .which said riser in its normal or operative position is carried by the said movement.

3. In a loom, in combination, the lay, the shuttle, the flexible riser, adapted to yield under contact with the warp-threads, occupying normally an erect or substantially erect position rising above the shuttle, and adapted to be held in an abnormal depressed position under the control of a portion of the load of weft or filling which is carried by the shuttle, and a trip into engagement with which said riser, when occupying its normal position, is carried by the movement of the lay.

4. In a loom, in combination, the lay, the shuttle,the flexible elastically-mounted riser occupying normally an erect or substantially erect position rising above the shuttle, and adapted to be held in an abnormal depressed position under the control of a portion of the load of weft or filling which is carried by the shuttle, the depressor for said riser arranged adjacent the position of the warp-threads, and a trip below which the shuttle is carried by the movement of the lay and into engagement with which said riser in its normal or operative position is carried by the said movement.

5. In a' loom, in combination, the lay, the

shuttle, the elastically-mounted riser occupying normally a position extending above the shuttle and adapted to be held depressed in an abnormal position under the control of a portion of the load of weft or filling carried by the shuttle, a trip adapted to be engaged by the riser, during the movement of the lay, when the said riser is in its normal position, and means operatively connected with said trip to modify the working of the loom.

6. In a loom, in combination, the lay, the shuttle,the elastically-mounted riser, occupying normally a position extending above the shuttle and adapted to be held depressed in an abnormal position under the control of a portion of the load of weft or filling carried by the shuttle, a trip adapted to be engaged by the riser during the movement of the lay when the riser is in its normal position, a fixed support for the trip, a detent under operative control of the trip, a going part which engages with said detent, and means under operative control of said detent to modify the working of the loom.

7. In a loom, in combination, the lay, the shuttle, the elastically-mounted riser occupying normally a position extending above the shuttle and adapted to be held depressed in an abnormal position under the control of a portion of the load of weft or filling carried by the shuttle, a trip adapted to be engaged by the riser during the movement of the lay when the said riser is in its normal position, and means under operative control of the said trip to effectuate automatic weft replenishment.

8. In a loom, in combination, the lay, the shuttle, the elastically-mounted riser occupying normally a position extending above the shuttle and adapted to be held depressed in an abnormal position under the control of a portion of the load of weft or filling carried by the shuttle, a trip adapted to be engaged by the riser during the movement of the lay when the said riser is in its normal position, and power shipping devices under operative control of the said trip.

9. In a loom, in combination, the lay, the shuttle, the elastically-mounted riser occupyment, means to detect breakage or complete exhaustion of the weft, and loom-stopping ing normally a position extending above the mechanism under operative control of the shuttle and adapted to be held depressed in 5 an abnormal position under the control of a portion of the load of weft or filling carried by the shuttle, a trip adapted to be engaged by the riser during the movement of the lay i when the said riser is in its normal position, I3 means under operative control of the said trip to effectuate automatic weft replenishsaid detecting means.

- In testimony whereof I afi'ix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HEN RY I. HARRIMAN.

Witnesses:

NATHAN B. DAY, EDITH J. ANDERSON. 

